‘RUNA - The Wisdom of the Runes’ by A.D. Mercer
Review: Mercer, A.D. ; RUNA: The Wisdom of the Runes, London: Troy Books, 2020 [sans ISBN], 162 pages
Beside the Elder and the Younger futhark we have three other forms of runic lore that possess an explicitly more esoteric or magical side than the two better known futharks. These are Johannes Thomae Bureus Agrivillensis (1568-1652) and his Nobel Runes, Guido von List (1848-1919) and his Armanen Runes, and Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937) and his Uthark.
Of these three, personally I consider the latter to be creative yet unimpressive, an epiphany of the runes that deserve its marginal status as an odd curiosity in runology. The Nobel Runes on the other hand express not only profound wisdom, but are truly sublime in their motive of resurrection, acumen and dominion, leaning towards mystical dimensions of Odin and Balder in a complex goetic enigma of a very Scandinavian bent. The Armanen Runes are equally profound as the Nobel Runes, and they are equally true to the idea of cosmic timelessness and traditional themes. However, they are of a more expansive and pragmatic nature, which for most people makes the unravelling of the Armanen runes more intuitive and accessible than e.g., the Nobel Runes.
Almost three decades ago I had the good fortune of studying the Armanen runes with a student of Karl Hans Welz, which led to my early admiration of these runes that I will be forever grateful for. It was not an easy apprenticeship, as I was taught these runes came with the obligation of reading obscure – and sometimes shocking – tomes like Gorsleben’s Hoch-Zeit der Menschheit (Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang,1930), Kummer’s Heilige Runenmacht (Hamburg: Uranus Verlag, 1932), Spiesberger’s Runenmagie (Berlin: RichardSchikowski, 1955), and even Wiligut – all with the purpose of understanding the intellectual and spiritual climate of the times when these runes were developed, used, exploited and expanded upon for good and for bad… But let us get to the heart of the matter.
The Armanen runes were envisioned by the eccentric adventurer and occultist Guido von List (1848–1919). Von List was born in 1848 in Vienna and was guided by a strong pull towards nature, fitting for a person born in this very vibrant epoch of Germania in the aftermath of the romantic movement known as Sturm und Drang. Marked by the legacy of Goethe, Herder, Schiller, Klinger, and with Heinrich Heine and Arthur Schopenhauer setting the tone for the post-romantic era, von List was a contemporary of Nietzsche and born into a formative time for the German speaking cultures: He experienced the peak of the romantic movement, heralding a collapse into nihilism due to political unrest in Germania. But across this canvas of nihilism, we find an impressive awakening, if not a movement of resurrecting the Nordic tradition of aesir and runes to the soundtrack of Richard Wagner.
Von List himself very much was a product of all these influences. Taken in by the air of romanticism, he experienced a vision when he was fourteen and visiting the catacombs of St. Stephen Cathedral (the Stefansdom) in Vienna. He descended with his father until he was touched by a ruined altar, and declared out loud in front of the altar that “When I am grown up, I will build a temple of Wotan!”. Curiously enough, from the age of fourteen von List did live a life as if the great Odin himself guided the man. Even his temporary blindness after a cataract operation only affirmed, to him, his vocation by Odin.
For von List it was important to emphasize that the world was created from the body of the frost giant Ymir who was slain by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve. Odin and his brothers represented for von List the true Nordic Trinity, exemplifying the principles of becoming, being and passing away to new beginnings. These three brothers, after killing Ymir, tossed him into Ginnungagap, the abyss. From Ymir’s body dissolving in the abyss the world was shaped and formed. What also emerged from this act was the “creative spark” embedded in the first of the Armanen runes, the Fa rune. This rune was born from the mysterious dissolution of Ymir in Ginnungagap, which is represented by the second rune in the Armanen sequence, the Ur-rune. The Ur-rune is the expansion of the “concealed knowledge” possessed by Ymir, who is truly the force hidden in the Fa rune that dissolves into the abyss of knowledge. In the spirit of the Nordic Trinity, von List says about the first rune, Fa, “only the fool mourns over decay”, celebrating the passing away into new beginnings.
In such a manner, he was setting the tone for the entire Armanen runes as Aryan, in the sense of the original Indo-European idea. In von List’s time there was a Germanic fascination not only with the Northern Tradition, but also with Hinduism. In particular, what stood out was the return of Vishnu as kalki, the avatar initiating a new Golden Age in the aftermath of the collapse of the modern world. Hence, the Armanen runes would reveal traditional themes in resonance with the cosmic cycles of the world. The world itself was constructed by eighteen prime forces, ur-elements if you will, which were the eighteen runes in the Armanen rune row, which von List envisioned in the following manner:
These eighteen runes impart the mystic story of creation, destruction and rebirth on different levels and in ways powerful, majestic and beautiful.
It is with great pleasure that I see Mr. Mercer has recreated this sense of overpowering beauty held by Armanen runes. He has accomplished this both by staying true to von List’s original vision as well as by expanding upon the wisdom of these runes in significant ways.
At the centre of these runes, we encounter Odin. And here we also understand that the temple of Odin created by von List was not a physical one but took the form of a Temple of Wisdom: Odin is represented by the rune Hagal, as depicted next to this paragraph. Hagal in itself is a combination of the runes Not and Eh, the latter representing passion and steadfastness and the former the idea of need on a cosmic level as related to the work of the Fates. Hence Odin is represented by upright passion, mediated by doing what is necessary according to the dictate of the Fates.
Divine passion put in service of the cross of the Fates, thus, generates a triad that is at the heart of the All-Runa, the runic crystal that encompassed all forms. Indeed, the All-Runa contains all eighteen runes with Hagal at its centre (just try it, every one of the other 15 runes, beside Not, Eh and Hagal, can be traced across the lines of the All-Runa). The All-Runa is the grand cosmic design of the Armanen runes and looks like this:
As we can see, there is great complexity to the metaphysical and esoteric dimensions of the Armanen runes, and it is such a pleasure to see how Mr. Mercer is truly giving justice to this fascinating, elegant and amazing runic wisdom.
[…] if Odhinn did not create the runes, something must have pre-existed even the gods – something that is exemplified by the runes. (p. 35)
I would strengthen this notion further and affirm that von List actually envisioned the Armanen runes as cosmic building blocks.
In presenting these mysteries, Mercer is taking us through the history of the Armanen runes. Expectably, the Nazis’ abuse of the runes is brought to the table to demonstrate both the use and the abuse surrounding the runes in this regard. These discussions could perhaps have entered more into the ideological misrepresentation of the runes with the aim of understanding the deeper levels of the runes in question. Instead, Mercer’s interpretation can be read as some form of apology, which I am not sure would have been necessary in this presentation. This is also my own minor critique in an overall masterful presentation of these mysteries.
Following this introduction, we are led into a most erudite and cunning presentation of Odin, or Odhinn, as is Mercer’s preferred spelling, of the enigmatic “Dark God of the Runes”. The author focusses on the vital theme in Odin’s search for wisdom, the element of sacrifice. That he hung in Yggdrasil for nine nights sacrificing himself to himself was the moment of runic illumination, but prior to this he gave up his eye to the giant Mimir so he could drink from his well of wisdom. Later Mimir was slain, and his head was taken by Odin for its oracular value. This event happened prior to the world of men taking shape, hence Mercer is entering into the timeless theme namely that these are mysteries that hearken back to a mythical ur-time. Consequently, the radiation of Odin, the Odic energy, is ‘the vibrant life force that empowers and emanates from all life and all living matter and is thus an energy force that is present in all things’, as Mercer observes towards the end of his discussion about Odin.
Subsequently, Mercer goes through each of the eighteen runes of the Armanen futhark in relation to the corresponding verses in the Havamal. Here, Mercer is faithfully expanding our understanding based upon von List’s original vision. Due to the elegant way in which Mercer unveils the sequence of runes, the reader cannot but perceive the beautiful rhythm of becoming, being and passing away into new beginnings.
Following these insights, Mercer takes us through a most peculiar and interesting journey, where the bind runes are taught in resonance to the nine realms, offering the reader nine bind runes composed of pairing up the eighteen Armanen runes and assigning them a realm for each pair.
This section is followed by a more practical part that suggests ways for summoning runes, working with them, and how to “awaken the runes within you”. These practical considerations in return pave the way for the last part of the book that teaches the methods of runic divination. In this final section, the template for casting the runes is of course the All-Runa. Hence, in divination with the Armanen runes there is a higher emphasize on the cosmic resonance, which offers a wonderful added dimension to the more practical answers implied by the runes.
The book is solidly bound in a burgundy cloth with a black stamp of the All-Runa, simple and striking. Upon closing the book, it is good to know that this book will not remain closed. It is reassuring to know this book has come into the world. Mercer has composed not only an elegant, but also a very practical and useful handbook for the entire use and mysteries of the Armanen futhark. It is my hope that everyone reading this book will enjoy it as much as I did, and that they will experience profound runic enlightenment for themselves.